Daevar – Amber Eyes (2024), Sub Rosa (2025)

Hey y’all. Remember the other day when I told you about The Lasting Dose Fest? If you’re planning on hitting the Hamburg gig tonight, you should probably already be on your way there! Since it’s around noon here in the eastern U.S., it’s probably getting close to showtime in Germany, if my understanding of time zones is correct (which is rarely the case).

But if you were sleeping on the event or weren’t already excited about it, what if I told you one of the performers put out one of my favorite albums of the year — in each of the past two years? Interested now?

 

DaevarAmber Eyes (The Lasting Dose Records, 22 March 2024)

 

DaevarSub Rosa (The Lasting Dose Records, 28 March 2025)

 

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GRIN – Acid Gods (2025) || The Lasting Dose Fest 2026

The Lasting Dose Fest 2026

 

The Lasting Dose Records has announced a showcase festival for several bands involved with the label, to be held later this week in Hamburg and Berlin.

The Hamburg show will be taking place at MS Stubnitz on Friday the 16th (tickets and more information here), and will feature performances by Daevar, GRIN, Ultrablut, and Earthbong.

Then, in Berlin at Neue Zukunft on Saturday the 17th (tickets/info here), with GRIN, Ultrablut, Earthbong, Sarkh, and Blacksmoker.

 

So if you find yourself in northern Germany on those dates, or if you’re anywhere within driving/train/whatever distance of the country’s two largest cities and feeling adventurous, it’s highly recommended that you go check out what TLD has to offer.

But if you need a bit more encouragement — or for those of us who find ourselves on the wrong side of the planet, but who would like a little something to listen to at home in order to live vicariously — let’s check out Acid Gods which was released last year by one of the bands who’ll be gracing both nights of the fest with their presence: GRIN.

 

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healthyliving – until/below; Esses – Bloodletting for the Lonely (2021)

Here we have two more noteworthy releases from last year. The first, a two-track single, debut release of a collaborative trio from Scotland and Germany; the other an album by a veteran deathrock quintet from the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

healthylivinguntil/below (self-released, 25 June 2021)

 

EssesBloodletting for the Lonely (Bat-Cave Productions / Atakra Records, 06 August 2021)

 

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Yagow – S/T (2017), The Mess (2021)

Good afternoon! Here’s another highlight from last year, as I continue to work through getting caught up on stuff we missed talking about here: the latest release by this band from Saarland, Germany — located on the Saar river and right near the border with France. And while we’re on the subject, I’ll throw in their debut from four years earlier, for no additional charge!

 

YagowYagow (Crazysane Records, 16 June 2017)

 

YagowThe Mess (Crazysane Records, 18 June 2021)

 

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High Fighter – Champain (2019), Live at WDR Rockpalast (2021)

Hey, how’s everyone feeling on this delightful February afternoon? Continuing to work my way through some of last year’s (or earlier) releases I didn’t get a chance to write about last year (or earlier)…

Hamburg-based High Fighter has been around for quite a few years now — some of you may recall that I had written about their 2014 debut EP and 2016 debut LP here; now let’s check out their second full-length and first-ever live album!

 

High FighterChampain (Argonauta Records, 26 July 2019)

 

High FighterLive at WDR Rockpalast (Argonauta Records, 26 November 2021)

 

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Coldun – Grand Sun Ritual (2021)

ColdunGrand Sun Ritual (self-released, 15 January 2021)

 

For its first ten years (during which it released two albums were released), Saxony (Germany)’s Coldun existed as a solo project for its founding member, also named Coldun. But then, about five years ago, Coldun (the band) expanded with the addition of a drummer and two guitarists, while Coldun (the musician) maintained responsibility for vocals as well as the bass and organ parts. In January the project’s third album overall, and the first with this new full-band lineup, finally emerged — and here it is for your enjoyment!

 

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Ripplefest Returns – Cologne Germany, March 2020

 

 


 

 

Ripplefest Cologne 2020

 

Saturday 28 March 2020

at Club Volta – Schanzenstraße 6-20, Gebäude 2.10, 51063 Köln

€ 19.90 | Doors 3:00 pm | Music 4:00 – 11:30 pm

 

Ripple Music announces the second annual Ripplefest, to be held next month in Cologne, Germany!

Featuring seven stoner/doom/retro-rock bands from four different countries, the all-day festival will also serve as an unofficial launch to the label’s tenth-anniversary celebrations…

 

Website | Tickets | Facebook event | Instagram

 

 
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High Fighter – The Goat Ritual (2014), Scars & Crosses (2016); Zirakzigil – World Builder (2016)

EP Cover Artwork + by Dominic Sohor Design

High FighterThe Goat Ritual (self-released, 28 October 2014)

 

High Fighter 'Scars & Crosses'      Album Front Cover_ By Dominic Sohor

High FighterScars & Crosses (Svart Records, 10 June 2016)

 

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ZirakzigilWorld Builder (Prosthetic Records, 10 June 2016)

 

Hey folks, how are you? Thanks for stopping by. Are you ready for another dose of good stuff to listen to? I hope so, because once again I’ve got some here to share with you today.

Both of the bands we’ll be discussing today will have an album released on Friday: High Fighter from Hamburg, Germany, will see their first full-length put out by Svart Records, which we’ll talk about in addition to that band’s debut EP that was self-released a while back; Zirakzigil from Portland, Oregon, also have their first LP forthcoming, one which was originally released by the band last year but is now being repackaged (and etched onto vinyl for the first time) by Prosthetic Records.

 

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Bloodred – Nemesis, Sig:Ar:Tyr – Northen (2016)

BLOODRED-Nemesis_Cover_lowres

BloodredNemesis (self-released, 08 April 2016)

 

northen-cover

Sig:Ar:TyrNorthen (Hammerheart Records, 15 April 2016)

 

Hey there, ladies and gentlemen of the internet! I hope you’re having an okay start to your week. Typically I’d be talking about how Mondays are so terrible or whatever, but truthfully, I realize that things could be much worse. Around the middle of last week, I experienced a little bit of a minor medical emergency — hospital visit, a couple days away from work, that sort of thing. Everything around here got really disrupted and it kind of sucked, and I can honestly say I’m actually glad to be back to the normal daily routine, however awful and soul-crushing it may be.

Okay, with all of that out of the way, let’s get to the music! I’ve had to shuffle things around a bit since my schedule got so thrown off over the past several days, but we’ll do what we can to get back on track and get to sharing the albums and other news you people need to hear about. Today let’s take a look at a pair of releases from earlier this month, each by a one-member band (although each had some assistance on these recordings), and each having a Viking connection. It has been a month since the last time we talked about Viking metal — don’t forget that Amon Amarth are still in the middle of their North American tour, with a few weeks left — and it seemed like it might be fun to do it again. One of these albums actually includes a reference to the same source material as the Jomsviking album, and the other deals with ancient Viking settlements in North America …

 

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Beehoover – The Devil and His Footmen (2013), Primitive Powers (2016)

thedevilandhisfootmen

BeehooverThe Devil and His Footmen (Exile on Mainstream, 30 September 2013)

 

primitivepowers

BeehooverPrimitive Powers (UnUnDeux, 26 February 2016)

 

Hey, good afternoon, music fans! Did you know that this website is now in its fifth year of existence? Technically its fifth birthday will be coming up later this year, but I just thought it was interesting to think about that. That might be partly why I’ve been covering quite a few older releases over the past weeks, trying to get some stuff written about and shared with you that I’ve been listening to and meaning to write about for a long time: reaching (or approaching) that sort of milestone can make you do a lot of reflecting back, while also trying to stay on top of what’s happening currently and looking ahead to what’s next.

Anyway, that’s kind of a roundabout way of introducing today’s topic, which will be hitting a bit of each of those things, since I’ll be covering a pair of albums by German bass/drums/vocals duo Beehoover — one which came out in late 2013 (and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying, and intending to get a chance to write about, since around that time), and a brand-new one (that I feel confident you’ll enjoy just as much) which will officially hit the store shelves (metaphorically speaking) tomorrow!

 

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